Amid 'very long meetings' and running chess world, has Anand lost 'hunger' to win?
Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand discusses his temporary role as interim President of FIDE while managing the sport's global governing body. He notes that the position involves significant administrative work and long meetings, though he remains focused on his responsibilities.
Why it matters
It provides insight into the administrative transition of a major international sports federation led by a legendary athlete.
NEW DELHI: The English vocabulary sometimes feels the loss for words while describing what Viswanathan Anand is to India and its chess legacy. There is a particular kind of stillness that follows the Chennai-born Grandmaster into a room, the stillness of a man who solved most of what chess could throw at him decades ago and has nothing left to prove to anyone in it.For over a month now, that stillness has been sitting in a very different chair. On July 24, 2026, Anand became interim President of FIDE, world chess's governing body, after Arkady Dvorkovich voluntarily stepped back from his duties under European Union and Swiss sanctions.
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